A cell tower outside the One Mount Pleasant Road offices of Rogers Communications in Toronto on March 15, 2021.Melissa Tait/The Globe and Mail
Canada’s elusive dream of a fourth national wireless carrier remains alive after Ottawa pledged to block the wholesale transfer of Shaw Communications Inc.’s SJR-B-T wireless licences to Rogers Communications Inc. RCI-B-T as part of its takeover deal.
Experts say the move signals that the federal government is concerned with cellphone bills in Canada – among the highest in the world – and wants to encourage competition.
Yet it’s unclear how stable and sustainable a fourth wireless carrier would be in the marketplace and how much of an impact it would have on prices, they say.
“It’s a good sign in the sense that the government is – at least in theory – keeping the dream of four wireless options alive in Canada,” John Lawford, executive director and general counsel of the Public Interest Advocacy Centre, said Friday.
“But whether the fourth player will be stable and still around in 10 years and how big they’ll be is unclear.”
Quebecor Inc. QBR-B-T, Eastlink Inc. and Xplornet Communications Inc. could all potentially play a role, he said.
“I don’t think there’s an obvious fourth player that’s going to be quasi-national,” he said. “They might give a chunk to Quebecor and then a little piece to Eastlink out east and maybe some to Xplornet for the north and rural areas.”
The Rogers $26-billion deal to buy Shaw and its Freedom Mobile wireless business has faced stiff opposition from consumer groups, academics and customers.
The deal is under review by three different federal regulators including the Competition Bureau and the CRTC as well as spectrum regulator Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED).
Federal Industry Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne said Thursday that the wholesale transfer of Shaw’s wireless licences to Rogers is fundamentally incompatible with the government’s policies for spectrum and mobile service competition.
Quebecor called the decision “a step in the right direction.”
“As it stands, the proposed Rogers-Shaw transaction is contrary to the public interest,” Pierre Karl Peladeau, president and CEO of Quebecor, said in a statement.
“As Bell BCE-T, Rogers and Telus T-T already control 90 per cent of Canada’s wireless market, it is imperative that we create the necessary conditions for real competition in order to give consumers more choice, better prices, better services and more innovation.”
Rogers and Shaw have said they are continuing to work constructively with the government and regulators.
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